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Deir Jarir raid deaths
In Deir Jarir, near Ramallah, Israeli settlers and Israeli soldiers conducted a raid that killed two Palestinians and left another in hospital with a gunshot wound, with the Guardian describing the night as “a night of three successive raids” lasting until after 2am.
“Palestinian complaints are rising in a number of villages in the West Bank over the increasing attacks by settlers, at a time when eyewitnesses say the Israeli army is arresting those who try to confront these assaults, in a scene described by residents as doubling their suffering and threatening to displace them from their lands”
The Guardian reported that settlers from a nearby outpost arrived after 9pm on Sunday claiming they were searching for stolen livestock, and that Israeli soldiers and police soon joined them as they sought to take villagers’ sheep by force.
Saber Ajaj, a relative of 53-year-old Odeh Farajna, told the Guardian, “The moment I put him in the car I knew that he was dead,” adding, “This shooting was meant to kill.”
The BBC framed the same incident as a deadly factory-like toll in a different context, but here it reported that the government would launch an immediate investigation and that Labour Minister Tahmina Akhter said, “We will hold the owners fully accountable,” while the Guardian and other sources focused on the Deir Jarir raid’s killings and injuries.
In the same Deir Jarir episode, B’Tselem said Israeli soldiers opened fire during the operation, killing Ahmed Abu Makho, 26, and Auda Farakhneh, 53, while three other Palestinians were wounded, one remaining in hospital in serious condition.
Competing narratives and quotes
B’Tselem said the raid showed how Israel promotes ethnic cleansing, with Yuli Novak telling Euronews that “the settlers raid Palestinian lands and loot them, while they are accompanied by the army and police and open fire on Palestinians trying to defend their homes and property.”
The Guardian also quoted Adel Rashid, the father of Abdul Adel Rashid Abu Mukh, 26, saying, “It’s a partnership between the army and the settlers,” as he described sheep thefts during the Sunday raid.
In contrast, Noovo Info reported that the Israeli army said its soldiers opened fire after Palestinians had thrown stones in their direction, and that the army said it deployed troops to protect and evacuate Israeli settlers who had entered to retrieve livestock.
Noovo Info added that the mayor of Deir Jarir, Eid Hamad, said settlers came to seize heads of livestock that did not belong to them, and that the army intervened and began firing at youths present, causing casualties.
Al Jazeera Net described Palestinians’ accounts of being subjected to attacks by settlers followed by arrests by the Israeli army, with residents saying they were “facing what they described as two armies at once” as hardship intensified.
Land orders and wider impact
Beyond the Deir Jarir raid, Anadolu Ajansı reported that Israel issued seven “taking possession” orders on Palestinian lands in the occupied West Bank over the past week, targeting 89 dunams and 514 square meters in the Ramallah, Jerusalem, and Nablus governorates.
“An Israeli human rights organization on Monday accused Israel of promoting what it described as 'ethnic cleansing' against Palestinians in the West Bank, saying that the killing of two Palestinians during a raid on the village of Deir Jarir near Ramallah is an example of the escalating violence against Palestinians in the area”
Anadolu Ajansı said the orders covered a total length of about 17.6 kilometers and were designated to carve new security roads or complete buffer zones around settlements and outposts, while the Palestinian Committee Against the Wall and Settlements said the increase reflects a “clear shift” toward fixed infrastructure development.
The Guardian connected the violence to settlement expansion, noting that plans for the government to endorse new settlements in the West Bank before national elections could challenge Benjamin Netanyahu’s far-right allies’ land grab in the occupied West Bank.
Euronews added that B’Tselem said about 750,000 settlers live in 141 settlements and 224 outposts across the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and that Israeli assaults against Palestinians and their property intensified after the Gaza war began on Oct. 8, 2023.
Al Jazeera Net and TRT عربي both described a broader pattern of escalating settler attacks and Israeli army actions, with Al Jazeera Net saying the West Bank since October 2023 saw 1,181 Palestinians killed and about 13,000 injured, and with TRT عربي citing “1,181 Palestinians martyred and about 13,000 injured” plus roughly 24,000 Palestinians detained.
